Window coverings in the form of “horizontal blinds” account for a substantial part of the window covering market. These blinds which are among the most practical and the least expensive of window coverings allow for proper light control by use of louvers mounted on ladders spanning between a head rail and a bottom rail so that they can be tilted between open and shut positions by a suitable control, usually by cords or a wand, or the entire blind can be raised by a cord control to bring the bottom rail up to the top rail.
Ascetically, however, there is an increasing trend where more and more customers want the appearance of a “soft” window covering such as the type of shade known as a “Roman Shade”. This type of shade normally consists of a material (usually fabric vinyl or any other soft type window covering material),a head rail, a bottom rail and a cord control system for raising and lowering the shade. When the shade is raised it creates cascading loops of overlapping folds of material giving a beautiful elegant appearance. However, when the shade is lowered it simply displays a flat piece of material hanging in front of the window. Such a Roman Shade or Blind is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,273,096, issued December 285h, 1993. To counteract this bland lowered appearance, this type of shade needs dressing up with a valance or other decorative topper treatment.
More complicated Roman Shades have been disclosed using a system of spacer cords combined with special ribs and cord carriers to achieve the soft look when the shade is lowered as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,566,735, issued Oct. 22, 1996.
A major problem with these prior art “Roman Shades” is that the consumer needs to make a choice between opaque, semi-opaque or translucent materials along with the choice of the desired patterns and/or colors when ordering the shade. If, for example, a translucent material is used such as a voile or sheer, then one would not, for example, install this style of “Roman Shade” in a window where privacy is required such as, for example, a bedroom window or a bathroom window. On the other hand, if an opaque material is selected for the shade, then, when the shade is in the lowered position, there is no sunlight entering the room, thus limiting the number of rooms in which this type of “Roman Shade” can be used.
Another problem with “Roman Shades” is that their manufacture and assembly involves a large number of small components requiring assembly, sewing or gluing in preparing both the fabric and the head rail. As a result, the manufacturing process is a very labor intensive and time consuming one making the manufacture of such a product very inefficient and, in turn, making the product a very expensive one.
The present invention is directed to providing a unique Roman Type Shade, hereinafter generally referred to as a cascade shade, which in its preferred form will present the desired beautified soft elegance presented by a series of cascading loops or overlapping folds of material in all positions of the shade from raised to lowered. Further, the invention is directed to such a shade where the consumer can select any desired light transmitting material based on design and color regardless of where the shade is to be used.
A further aspect of the present invention is to enable such a cascade shade to be created in a very simple manner without requiring any specialized equipment, sewing, or gluing operation with the result that no skilled labour to assemble the shade is required and the need for large inventories of various components, fabrics etc. is eliminated.